Heard on the Street

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INFLUENTIAL WOMEN |ret||ret||tab|

Springfield Business Journal congratulates its 20 Most Influential Women in Business for 2001: Pam Armstrong, City Utilities; Ann Marie Baker, UMB Bank, NA; Nancy Bogart, Country Bunny Bath & Body; Loa Freeman, Success Naturally; Paula Glossip, Citizens National Bank; Julie Guillebeau, Springfield Trust Company; Jackie Taylor Johnson, J. Taylor Johnson Advertising; Evelyn Gwin Man-gan, Legal Services of Southern Missouri; Janell K. Manley, Janell Manley Homes; Jane McElvaine, Maxon's; Robin Melton, Environ-mental Works; Lisa Nally, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; Betty Neal, Edward Jones; Pamela Ann Reese, St. John's Health System; Paula Ringer, ACR Communications; Robin Robeson, Commerce Bank; Ann Salle-Mason, Commerce Trust Company; Julie P. Short, J.P. Short & Associates; Angela D. Smith, ADSmith Com-munications; and Janet Susdorf, Organization, Etc.; The winners will be honored during an Oct. 10 luncheon at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. Tickets to the luncheon are available for $17.50 each or $150 for a table of 10. For more information or to order tickets, call Debra Fickbohm at 417-831-3238, or e-mail her at dfickbohm@sbj.net.|ret||ret||tab|

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CAN YOU READ THIS?|ret||ret||tab|

A startling 47 percent of Missourians read below an eighth-grade level, according to the Ozarks Literacy Council. Those who can't read were polled and gave many reasons why they never learned to read, but the overwhelming reasons were poverty and lack of resources to teach them. Nationwide, 87,537 volunteers donated 5.9 million hours of services to literacy programs last year. Despite the great effort, 70 percent of those who wish to read are on waiting lists for tutors. The Ozarks Literacy Council starts its tutor training sessions Sept. 6. Formerly housed in a church at Seminole and National, the council's new address is 410 South Ave.|ret||ret||tab|

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JAPANESE FALL FESTIVAL|ret||ret||tab|

If you remember the exquisite beauty of the Japanese tea ceremonies depicted in "The Karate Kid" and "Shogun," you'll have a chance to relive the experience, up close and personally. The tea ceremony is just one of the activities that visitors to the Japanese Stroll Garden can participat in during the Japanese Fall Festival and Candlelight Walks in early September. The event will be 5-10 p.m. Sept. 7 and 1-10 p.m. Sept. 8 and 9. Presented by the Springfield Sister Cities Association and the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department, the festival also features Japanese traditional dancers, paper art and spinning toys, martial arts, sword forging, music, dancing and children's games and hands-on activities. The garden has a pagoda, a rock bridge, a log bridge, a moon bridge, tea house, wisteria arbor, meditation garden, waterfall, and a moon viewing deck. It's located at 2400 S. Scenic, be-tween Sunshine and Battlefield, and is part of Nathanael Greene Park. |ret||ret||tab|

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HERBIVORE LEAVINGS|ret||ret||tab|

It's that time again composted herbivore manure, euphemistically given the appellation ZooDoo, is available at the Dickerson Park Zoo through September, or as long as the stuff lasts. Touted as an organic garden fixer, ZooDoo can be purchased by the pickup load (ewww!) or in bags or buckets. Customers who bring their own bags or buckets should be prepared to shovel the ... stuff. |ret||ret||tab|

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SLICE OF NICE|ret||ret||tab|

It wouldn't be Labor Day weekend if Jerry Lewis weren't hosting the Muscular Dystrophy As-sociation's telethon and this year is no exception. KOLR 10 is broadcasting the MDA's largest fund-raiser Sept. 2 and 3. "We need the volunteer support of hundreds of people in southwest Missouri," said Lewis, MDA na-tional chairman. The event raises funds for its services and research programs to benefit sufferers of more than 40 neuromuscular diseases, not just muscular dystrophy. Volunteers are needed to help with pre-telethon mailings, greeting guests, answering telephones, distributing posters to local businesses, transporting supplies, videotaping and logging the show and cleaning up afterwards. "We depend upon the assistance of volunteers all year long," said Jerry Bear, MDA district director. A special need is for MDA summer camp counselors. To volunteer or for more information, call the MDA office at 417-866-5117.[[In-content Ad]]